Alameda County's Asian Population Sees Big Jump

Alameda County’s Asian population followed national trends and grew more than any other demographic between 2010 and 2012, according to numbers released Wednesday from the U.S. Census Bureau.

"Asians and Hispanics have long been among our nation's fastest-growing race or ethnic groups," noted Thomas Mesenbourg, the Census Bureau's acting director.

The trend holds true in Alameda County, where the Asian population jumped six percent to 419,603 last year, according to census numbers. The number of Hispanic residents grew 3.6 percent, to 352,707.

Those declaring two races grew 5.6 percent to 60,239.

Nationally, more than 60 percent of the Asian population’s growth was a result of migration to the U.S. from other countries, census officials said. California has more Asian residents than any other state, with 6 million.

By comparison, much of the national Hispanic population’s growth was due to natural increase, or a greater number of births than deaths, according to census data.

The number of white, non-Hispanic residents grew 1 percent during the same time period, to 521,029, according to census figures. While still the largest ethnic group, whites make up only 33.5 percent of Alameda County’s more-than 1.5 million population.